a little sunshine does you good
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: Ficlet. Set after the Four Beasts arc early in the series. Hiei on bodyguard duty, Kurama taking a stroll. Boy, do the things Kurama says get under Hiei's skin... Implied slash.


**a little sunshine does you good**

A YuYu Hakusho ficlet

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _YuYu Hakusho_ characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei, not me. Hmm. Prolly my only YYH fic… O.o… I used to watch/read it when I was little, but that was a long time ago… I was in the library and found the manga, though, and got a little inspired. I may write other things. Dunno yet. Btw, some of the dialogue is verbatim vol.5 of YYH, and therefore belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei.

- ^-^3

_Koenma better have payment for me later,_ Hiei thought as he glanced down at the demon imposters of Yusuke and Kuwabara. True, the real Yusuke and Kuwabara, along with Hiei himself and Kurama, had only recently returned from the Demon Plane and were still recovering, but Hiei didn't feel like frying small fish today. On the other hand… Koenma was annoyingly sharp. When he'd reminded Hiei of Yusuke's injuries, he'd been implying a question of protection.

Not one to back away from a challenge, no matter how insignificant, Hiei had gone to the human world and had been watching over the two nearly-invalid dunces. Of course, this _could_ give Hiei the chance to beat Yusuke once and for all…

"What am I thinking?" the demon quietly chided himself, but he was smirking nonetheless.

"Quite a lot of _bloodlust_ in the air, eh?"

Hiei jolted. He hadn't even heard Kurama approach him atop the school's roof! He grimaced. "Don't sneak up behind me."

He heard Kurama stifle a chuckle, and it took much willpower for Hiei not to turn around and intimidate what he was sure would be a smug expression off that girly face. "Then don't let your guard down," the red-haired male gently teased.

"My guard is never down."

"Is that so? Surely it shan't be down around so many of those demons below," Kurama said, coming up beside Hiei to look over the roof's edge and see the monster horde.

Hiei's eye twitched. Kurama was very good at condescending others _without_ condescending them in simple, upfront tones. "Care for a small match, then? You're weak, but you could still give me a decent workout."

To Hiei's further irritation, Kurama unabashedly chuckled. Not a laugh—it was that bloody chuckle he had, the one that carried a hint of I'm-better-than-you-ness. "I'm not here to rile you, Hiei. …much."

The short demon turned and glared at his companion—and was thrown off by the kind (or was it mischievous?) smile on Kurama's face. "What?" Hiei hissed.

"It's nice having friends, isn't it?" Kurama asked softly, staring out into the blue sky.

Hiei eyed him, wondering what the male's game was. "…I don't need…_friends_," he finally said, the emphasized word rolling off his tongue like a heavy, lead weight.

Kurama sighed. "All right. You have the freedom to say that." He looked at Hiei. "But Yusuke's in some nasty pain right now. Don't try fighting him at this point, Hiei."

"I'm not going to fight him!"

The red-haired male blinked. "Really? Huh. Then I suppose…"

"Keep your suppositions to yourself."

"…that those demons are going to go after Yusuke and Kuwabara. How sad. Two strong, strong fighters, so weakened by current events...anyone could defeat them, wouldn't you say, Hiei?" He seemed to play with the word "anyone" in his mouth.

Hiei could only glare back at him.

"Yes, even those low-level demons could beat them. Even Yusuke! And didn't he beat you?"

"I'm not going to listen to another word," the demon spat.

"Right. You're too busy looking out for your friends."

"I'm not the Underworld's _slave_, got it? I'm just putting in my 'community service'!"

"I understand."

"Yes! Now _goodbye_!" Hiei pushed, hoping Kurama would leave.

"Poor Yusuke, stuck fighting _third-rate_ demons. But what do you care?"

"I don't," Hiei asserted.

Kurama finally shut up. Hiei began to wonder if that meant he'd be alone again. A while passed between them in silence. And then: "You'll care someday, Hiei. We all do."

Hiei snorted. "I doubt it."

"…even I care."

The demon looked back at him and found that insipid smile gracing those features once again. Hiei bit his tongue to keep from cursing or threatening Kurama again. "I—_they_ don't want your care."

"They do," Kurama mused as he backed away from the edge. He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Friends always do." He stared at Hiei. "You don't?"

"I don't want or need your friendship."

Kurama grinned goodhumoredly. "Oh, do you want to be special?"

Hiei's glare intensified, but he found his scarf was making his neck now very warm. He gritted his teeth. "Get away from me!" he barked.

Kurama backed off, but he couldn't stop teasing his friend a little more. "Okay, Hiei-ppi. See you later, Hiei-ppi."

"Agh! Don't give me a nickname, you!" Hiei watched Kurama disappear, and he only returned his focus to Koenma's task once that door had shut.

_NOW I need a workout! Might as well take care of those demons..._

- ^-^3

**:] I actually have a small Keiko/Yusuke idea, so maybe we'll see that soon. So, should I further the Hiei/Kurama slash (i.e, in another fic)? ;D**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**-mew-tsubaki :3**


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